From December 7-13, ski bums and music fans descended upon Vail, CO, to ski, snowboard, rock out and drink. Bud Light sponsored the five free headliner concerts which included Barenaked Ladies and Robert Randolph & The Family Band.

To kick off the event, the beer brand hosted a pub crawl. To keep revelers warm and toasty, it handed out Bud Light-branded Snuggies. Hundreds wandered from bar-to-bar in the "blanket with sleeves." The Snuggies "were the thing to get that night which was really cool," says James Deighan of Highline Sports & Entertainment, the event production company for Vail Snow Daze. "The Bud Light promotion was very well-received."

Participants were also privy to other prizes, including concert tickets, a Rossignol snowboard and a bevy of Vail Snow Daze and Bud Light-branded giveaways. "There were thousands of T-shirts, can coolers, a dozen pairs of skis, hoodies, goggles, glasses, and just massive amounts of different, fun giveaways for everybody to enjoy during the week," says Deighan.

Why load them up with goodies? Because "the event has been around for four years now and Vail marketing decided they really wanted to step it up," he says. "The message was that they wanted to show the love for loyal customers and potential new customers. People ski Vail for so long they call it their home. There is a lot going on in the world with the economy and they wanted to put out the red carpet by providing the best event for any resort ever."

While that was a bold proclamation, the organizers achieved it on some levels “ especially when it came to the Barenaked Ladies concert which was held outside in the middle of a blizzard. "It was truly magical. I can™t even describe it. The lead singer said if the fans won™t have heaters, neither will we," says Deighan. "At the end of the night he had three inches of snow on his hat."

What the 8,000 adoring fans did have was plenty of branded items. "Throughout the entire week, whether it was the Bud Light Snuggies to Vail Snow Daze skull caps and hoodies, it became a three-dimensional event vs. just a two-dimensional ad. People could touch and feel the experience of the event and had something to take home with them."